Alice in the Kitchen

Hot Dog Buns

It’s Father’s Day, so what are you doing special for your dad? Or grandfather? Or ladies, someone who you’d like to make into a daddy? Kidding. My dad requested hot dogs for his Father’s Day dinner. You say, “tell me something special I can make for you!” and he says, “hot dogs.” What’s not to love about that?

So I thought I’d try my hand at making hot dog buns, and they turned out okay. Minus the one that fell in the bottom of the oven. The best part was that my entire house smelled like a delicious Fuddrucker’s. For a little while. Until one of the buns fell off the pan and ignited.

I’m still pretty partial to the store-bought buns. But, if you’re feeling adventurous, here’s how you too can make your very own hot dog buns.  I think it is important to shape the buns well, and you can learn from my mistake – don’t be afraid to place the dough pieces very close to each other!  Or you could always invest in one of these fancy schmancy “hot dog pans” but if you’ve got that much money to burn, please send me some while you’re at it.

• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 (.25 oz) packages dry yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Stir together 2 cups flour and yeast. In a separate bowl, heat milk, water, oil, sugar and salt to lukewarm in microwave. Add all at once to the flour mixture, and beat until smooth, about 3 minutes.
2. Mix in enough flour to make a soft dough, about 2.5 cups. Mix well. Dust a flat surface with flour, turn dough out onto floured surface, and let rest under bowl for about 10 minutes.
3. Shape dough into approximately 15 balls, then roll into a worm shape.  Put them MUCH closer together than you see in this picture:
   
4. Place on baking sheet to rise until doubled in size.  Don’t grease the baking sheet or you will end up with buns on the bottom of the oven once you touch the baking sheet!
   Case in point:
   
5. Bake in a preheated 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

P.S. If you want these to look more beautiful, brush an egg wash (one egg white with a little water) over the buns about 2 minutes before they come out of the oven!